Past IPPs

The first International Peoples Project took place in 1997, and since then IPPs have taken place on a regular basis on various project themes – all of which are developed by responding to an identified need within a community, and run in partnership with a local organization.

Brazil - Hope for the future

Where and when

Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. 16 July 2016 to 2 August 2016

Theme description

Hope for the future. Diversity and Human Rights.

Project description

Working with Centro Comunitário Esperança do Futuro (Educational Community Center Hope for the Future), the IPP will develop after school educational activities and sports. These activities include: art & music classes, capoeira, volleyball, basketball, chess, dance, and others, in order to keep them off the streets and develop their skills. The project aims to restore children and teenager’s dignity through the social projects, giving them opportunities to grow and become a hopeful person, in search of a better and brighter future.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Be pro-active

Be open-minded

Be prepared to work with children and youth

Be able to interact and cooperate in a diverse intercultural group, communicating in different ways

Canada - Home is Where the Heart is

Where and when

Victoria, Canada. 3 July 2016 to 23 July 2016

Theme description

Home is Where the Heart is.

Project description

Through this IPP, participants will learn what homelessness looks like, and its impact on the individual, the family, and the community. Relying on Our Place Society, Woodwynn Farm, and First Nations Organizations and their clients, participants will learn what conditions contribute to homelessness, and what services exist to assist people through discussions, activities, and volunteering within the organizations.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

be open-minded and non-judgmental.

be good communicators; flexible and easy going.

be flexible and easy going.

be open to interacting with people of different socio-economic. backgrounds.

be willing to do manual work in farms as well as inner-city soup kitchens.

Finland - Global food security and urban cultivation

Where and when

Helsinki, Finland. 17 July 2016 to 3 August 2016

Theme description

Global food security and urban cultivation.

Project description

The global demand for fertile lands for agriculture is expected to increase in the future as the population grows. At the same time more and more people are living in cities. This IPP will examine the complex issues surrounding food security and the role cities could play, while minimizing environmental impacts. The partner organization is Dodo, an environmental organization that explores environmental issues from an urban perspective. The practical part of this IPP will focus working at the cultivation sites of the partner organization as well as organizing a brunch and developing a sustainable food cookbook.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Be ready and willing to work outside.

Have an interest in the theme.

Have a background in/knowledge of relevant fields such as nutrition, international relations, agriculture and forestry and urban studies/planning.

Have some documentation skills.

Germany - Farm Adventure

Where and when

Darmstadt, Germany. 13 August 2016 to 27 August 2016

Theme description

Farm Adventure – Social Learning in nature education.

Project description

This IPP will focus on Social Learning within Nature Education. Participants will explore the themes of tolerance and acceptance of diverse cultures and social backgrounds as well as the use of outdoor activities and nature orientated education for social learning. The practical element of this IPP will focus on working outside in the garden as well as other practical jobs such as restoring a site trailer. Participants will also have the opportunity to run activities with children from the Partner Organization Kinder & Jugendfarm Darmstadt e.V. (Kids and Youth Farm).

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Be excited to work with children from different backgrounds.

Be open minded.

Have an affinity for nature and animals.

Have a hands on mentality. Certain manual skills are very welcome!

Italy - A Path Into the Woods and in History

Where and when

Ferrara, Italy. 15 July 2016 to 30 July 2016

Theme description

A Path Into the Woods and in History.

Project description

Focusing on the events of 1944 and 1945, when the Gothic line crossed the region, participants will learn the history of the area through expert testimony, and by curating the first-hand accounts of the elderly residents. The IPP will use this understanding to prepare an historical project, which will promote “conscious tourism” in the area. Participants will work to restore the old paths crisscrossing the region as part of this tourism effort and will also plan a day of activities, educating the local community in the theme.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Have an interest in nature and in history of a territory.

Be willing to work outside.

Greece - Photography as a medium for promoting Community Development

Where and when

Athens, Greece. 15 July 2016 to 31 July 2016

Theme description

Photography as a medium for promoting Community Development.

Project description

This IPP will focus on exploring photography as a medium for promoting Community Development. The group will study a small town in Attica, Chalandri, where ‘Rematia’, a long creek, is of great concern for its protection and further development. The participants will work with the local community to make proposals for further development of the creek as a method of improving living conditions in the area. They will also work with the local Society of Photography to develop a photography exhibition that will take place at the City Hall.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Have a keen interest in photography, and their own photographic equipment.

Enjoy walking in nature as well as urban areas.

Want to explore ways of improving living conditions in a community.

Mongolia - Forest restoration through reusing and recycling

Where and when

Ulan Baator, Mongolia. 25 July 2016 to 8 August 2016

Theme description

Protecting the environment: Forest restoration through reusing and recycling.

Project description

This IPP is focused on developing and advocating the importance of environmental protection, and in particular, the importance of preserving the woods in rural areas. Participants will learn about the significance of preserving nature within the context of the local culture, and create a day of learning for the local youth. Through this project, participants will learn about the existing environmental issues, especially with regards to waste management in forests. Participants will have the opportunity to clean up the woods, and identify ways to creatively recycle or reuse any found waste to the benefit of the local school and/or kindergarten.

Spain - Unbuilding Walls

Where and when

Madrid, Spain. 6 August 2016 to 21 August 2016

Theme description

Unbuilding Walls.

Project description

Participants will work with Fundación Escuela para la Solidaridad (FES), an organization working to create a safe and supportive environment for persons who have been excluded from society. The IPP will explore the themes of privilege and exclusion through integration into the everyday life of the communities that FES supports. Working with FES, participants will help to break down the barriers separating these communities from society by assisting with childcare, farming, building maintenance, and leading workshops. Along the way, the IPP hopes to demonstrate that generosity can come from both sides of the wall.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Be willing to help.

Be easy-going, open-minded and non-judgmental.

Be flexible, and sensitive to the needs of others.

Have a creative outlook to problem solving.

Be able to manage and resolve conflict.

USA - Exploring the Environment and Environmental Initiatives in North Florida

Where and when

Jacksonville, USA. 15 July 2016 to 2 August 2016

Theme description

Exploring the Environment and Environmental Initiatives in North Florida – Land, Air, Water, Plants and Animals.

Project description

Working with the largest urban park system in the USA, participants will explore environmental preservation and sustainability initiatives through a variety of activities with a variety of organizations in Northern Florida. While working to clean up local waterways, participants will learn how to take water samples, to identify marine mammals, such as dolphins and manatees, and to kayak. On land, participants will help identify and remove invasive plant species, plant and prune trees, create a bioswale and help landscape a home in order to best conserve water and preserve waterways. Participants will also have the opportunity to help organizations that recycle and repurpose items for use in local classrooms and engage with the community in these projects.

Participant profile

Participants should ideally:

Enjoy outdoor activities like kayaking, hiking, and swimming.

Have a willingness to do some manual labour (planting trees, sampling water quality, cleaning up waterways and parks, working in a garden).

Have an interest in improving air and water quality and preserving wildlife and plant life.

Be prepared for hot weather and beautiful river and beach scenery.

Be mature, open minded, and willing to share their expertise about their own countries’ sustainability efforts.

A background in the natural sciences, international relations, government, or education may enrich the experience but are not necessary.

Brazil - Developing a local community through educational activities.

Where and when

Londrina, Brazil. 27 June 2015 to 18 July 2015

Theme description

Working with children in an under-privileged community.

Project description

We will be helping to work with a community by delivering educational activities for children in this underprivileged neighbourhood. We will learn how to work and interact with a vulnerable community in Brazil and share our activities and methodology with the partner organization, Assossiação Mãos Estendidas (AME).

Participant profile

Communicative; easy-going; able to make friends; preferably Portuguese/Spanish speaker; energetic; enjoys working with children.

Czech Republic - Respect each other, get to know each other

Where and when

Prague, Czech Republic. 26 July to 9 August 2015

Theme description

Living in a farming community and working with endangered Hucul horses

Project description

We want to build on successful project of 2012 with partner organization Hucul Club. Through living and working on the farm breeding and endangered horse called ‘Hucul’, we will help the local community. The second part of the project is to help each other to improve our understanding of how to solve conflicts in our work, in our school, and in our lives.

Participant profile

Interested in nature and its protection; willing to do manual work in stables, fields and barns and live in cabin-style accommodation; experience with horses and farming is welcomed.

Colombia - Empowerment and leadership

Where and when

Bogota, Colombia.18 July to 8 August 2015

Theme description

An arts-based project working with under-privileged youth

Project description

We will be helping partner organization San Juan Joven with their work with youth in a disadvantaged community to build their self-awareness and leadership skills. As a lasting record of the project we will work with the youth to transform a public space; we will also develop a book for a local school on leadership and empowerment.

Participant profile

Willing to help; creative and proactive; previous work, or volunteering experience, in developing communities; an interest in the arts, whether visual or performing arts, and a talent to use their skills; good at interacting with people and very flexible; willing to work with youth.

Great Britain - The Big Issue: Urban homelessness in Great Britain

Where and when

Leeds, Great Britain. 01 August to 15 August 2015

Theme description

Working with homeless people in a large UK city and understanding the issues they face.

Project description

Participants will learn about the situation of individuals in Leeds, a major city in the North of England, who are homeless. The educational part will involve information/talks from the partner organization, St. Anne’s Community Services. Participants will also prepare educational activities and have read about the theme within their own country. The practical part will involve interaction with people using the partner organization’s services.
For more information about our partner organization, see: www.st-annes.org.uk/

Participant profile

No particular skills or knowledge are required but we are looking for people with the following attitudes: open-minded and non-judgmental; hardworking; creative outlook to problem solving; flexible and easy going; and a desire to work with the theme in your own community.
Note: In order to work with vulnerable adults in Great Britain, it is the law to have Police Checks. Participants need to be pro-active in helping us to meet this legal requirement and cannot have any criminal convictions in the past.

Italy - Freedom from all forms of the Mafia

Where and when

Genova, Italy. 10 August to 23 August 2015

Theme description

Understanding the scale of corruption of the modern mafia, while working on a farm confiscated from the mafia.

Project description

The project focuses on how mafia and corruption are a menace to the authority of the institutions, how they ‘pollute’ and distort the economic world, steal resources from the community, and even ‘pollute’ the democratic process. Partner Organization Libera (Association Against All Mafias) will prepare activities on the different Italian mafias and explain how they are now a global network, far from the old stereotype of the Italian godfather. Today the mafia is an economic power with interests not only in drugs, human trafficking, and illegal games but is well rooted in the economic ‘normal’ world by cleaning large quantities of dirty money in the legal economy, thus distorting equal competition.
Since 1982, with the approval of the Law Rognoni-La Torre, the Italian State approved and enforced a law to confiscate the properties of the Mafiosi and to give them back to the local communities, by entrusting the properties to cooperatives able to work the land and to restore the properties to public use. We will work on a farm confiscated to a mafia family in the North of Italy, working with animals, making honey and cultivating the biological orchard.

Philippines - Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in the context of local culture

Where and when

Baguio City, Philippines. 28 December 2015 to 14 January 2016

Theme description

Helping a disaster-prone community understand how they can contribute to reducing the risks they face as a result of climate change.

Project description

With partner organizations Center for Disaster Preparedness and Shountog Foundation, participants will learn about the effects of climate change and existing means of local disaster risk reduction. From interacting with the community, participants will learn the different ways in which climate change is affecting the lives of individuals and gain a better understanding of what goes on in a disaster prone developing country like the Philippines, gaining a more concrete and meaningful perspective on how environmental changes figure into the lives of people.
There is another theme of transmitting awareness and information between and among interest groups and individuals that runs throughout the programme. This will be touched upon through activities and discussions run by CISVers and working with the partner organizations, and will culminate in a body of work (articles, videos, blogs) that communicates the entire IPP experience. We will also be depending on a partner organization to help participants develop the capacity and skills to do so, perhaps inviting people working in journalism and film to give a short workshop.

Participant profile

Successful participants should have an interest in and willingness to learn more about climate change and disaster management. They should be ready to contribute documentation skills such as photography, video-making and story-telling.
Ideally, interested participants would have indirectly or directly come into contact with a natural disaster in their country. This could be from first-hand experience or from being involved in some phase of disaster management. Involvement can be as simple as having packed relief goods for deployment or having collected clothes, blankets, and other basic necessities for communities dealing with the aftermath.

Brazil - Something

Inspiring change : understanding identity, breaking prejudices and community building

Where and when

Campinas, Brazil. 17 July to 03 August 2014

Theme description

In recent years, Brazil has experienced a time of great economic growth with increase of formal employment, rase on average family income and consumption, access to education, and also infant mortality, child labour and malnutrition rates decrease. Even though the country poverty level has falling, we still live in a very uneven society, where 75% of the wealth belongs to 10% of the population. One out of five children under 17 years old, lives in families without enough income to ensure their basic needs. Comparing to other age groups, the degree poverty and exclusion is much higher among children and adolescents. Living in families under vulnerability, many of these children are not reached by educational, health and social public policies. Children assisted by the partner organization live in areas of disorded occupation, with poor infrastructure and sanitation, high levels of violence and no options for leisure, sports or culture activities. This situation of exclusion ends up bringing up deep marks in the way they see themselves, their identity and their place in society.

Project description

Working alongside AAQQ, who aim to contribute to the social and educational development of kids and families under social vulnerability, IPPers will help implement social and educational activities to generate an improvement in the training of children and adolescents. Focusing on cross-cutting areas such as education, health, environment, culture and communication, participants will plan activities that contribute to the cultural exchange and emphasizing the kids background, as a strategy to increase their self-esteem. The project will discuss the ideas of youth empowerment and social change, especially for from low-income families and the challenges that comes with this status. Participants will discuss this theme relating to the local context as well as bringing experience from their own countries and lives and work with the local educator to improve the activities and projects already developed by the partner organization.

Participant profile

Participants interested in this project should be openminded, culturally sensitive and should be capable to communicate using non-verbal ways. They should be interested in connecting with children and adolescents; helping them expand their horizons, open their minds to the world and increase their self-esteem. Previous work, or volunteering experience, in developing communities and with people under social risk would be an asset to the IPP.

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Inspiring change : understanding identity, breaking prejudices and community building

Where and when

Campinas, Brazil. 17 July to 03 August 2014

Theme description

In recent years, Brazil has experienced a time of great economic growth with increase of formal employment, rase on average family income and consumption, access to education, and also infant mortality, child labour and malnutrition rates decrease. Even though the country poverty level has falling, we still live in a very uneven society, where 75% of the wealth belongs to 10% of the population. One out of five children under 17 years old, lives in families without enough income to ensure their basic needs. Comparing to other age groups, the degree poverty and exclusion is much higher among children and adolescents. Living in families under vulnerability, many of these children are not reached by educational, health and social public policies. Children assisted by the partner organization live in areas of disorded occupation, with poor infrastructure and sanitation, high levels of violence and no options for leisure, sports or culture activities. This situation of exclusion ends up bringing up deep marks in the way they see themselves, their identity and their place in society.

Project description

Working alongside AAQQ, who aim to contribute to the social and educational development of kids and families under social vulnerability, IPPers will help implement social and educational activities to generate an improvement in the training of children and adolescents. Focusing on cross-cutting areas such as education, health, environment, culture and communication, participants will plan activities that contribute to the cultural exchange and emphasizing the kids background, as a strategy to increase their self-esteem. The project will discuss the ideas of youth empowerment and social change, especially for from low-income families and the challenges that comes with this status. Participants will discuss this theme relating to the local context as well as bringing experience from their own countries and lives and work with the local educator to improve the activities and projects already developed by the partner organization.

Participant profile

Participants interested in this project should be openminded, culturally sensitive and should be capable to communicate using non-verbal ways. They should be interested in connecting with children and adolescents; helping them expand their horizons, open their minds to the world and increase their self-esteem. Previous work, or volunteering experience, in developing communities and with people under social risk would be an asset to the IPP.

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Inspiring change : understanding identity, breaking prejudices and community building

Where and when

Campinas, Brazil. 17 July to 03 August 2014

Theme description

In recent years, Brazil has experienced a time of great economic growth with increase of formal employment, rase on average family income and consumption, access to education, and also infant mortality, child labour and malnutrition rates decrease. Even though the country poverty level has falling, we still live in a very uneven society, where 75% of the wealth belongs to 10% of the population. One out of five children under 17 years old, lives in families without enough income to ensure their basic needs. Comparing to other age groups, the degree poverty and exclusion is much higher among children and adolescents. Living in families under vulnerability, many of these children are not reached by educational, health and social public policies. Children assisted by the partner organization live in areas of disorded occupation, with poor infrastructure and sanitation, high levels of violence and no options for leisure, sports or culture activities. This situation of exclusion ends up bringing up deep marks in the way they see themselves, their identity and their place in society.

Project description

Working alongside AAQQ, who aim to contribute to the social and educational development of kids and families under social vulnerability, IPPers will help implement social and educational activities to generate an improvement in the training of children and adolescents. Focusing on cross-cutting areas such as education, health, environment, culture and communication, participants will plan activities that contribute to the cultural exchange and emphasizing the kids background, as a strategy to increase their self-esteem. The project will discuss the ideas of youth empowerment and social change, especially for from low-income families and the challenges that comes with this status. Participants will discuss this theme relating to the local context as well as bringing experience from their own countries and lives and work with the local educator to improve the activities and projects already developed by the partner organization.

Participant profile

Participants interested in this project should be openminded, culturally sensitive and should be capable to communicate using non-verbal ways. They should be interested in connecting with children and adolescents; helping them expand their horizons, open their minds to the world and increase their self-esteem. Previous work, or volunteering experience, in developing communities and with people under social risk would be an asset to the IPP.